1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the security of data accessed on networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to agent based software used as a service to secure data accessed by a client computer and communicated to/from a host computer via a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As most people now use and store data on the Internet for financial and recreational purposes, there is an increasing need to ensure a high level of security. Such security much be sufficiently robust so as to permit users to perform using/storing (e.g., reading/writing) operations while preventing data from being compromised by hackers and malware. Conventional computer security software is typically reactive in nature, and therefore requires regular updates. As such, there exists the possibility that hackers, viruses, spyware, malware, and malicious software may penetrate defenses put in place to protect an end user from harm. Such harm may include, but is not limited to, an unauthorized use of resources on a users computer by a third party, the collection of private data from a user by a third party, and the prevention of normal operations of an end user-device.
Prevention of such threats poses a very serious problem for computer security software vendors. The problem is due to the increasing complexity of threats to which end user devices are exposed. The security systems that are provided by conventional computer security software vendors address certain aspects of the overall security requirements and typically assume that a computer is protected by traditional anti-virus or anti-malware solutions. As such, there is a need for a system that facilitates comprehensive protection of data communicated between computers via a network (e.g., the Internet).